Gene Principe ‏@GenePrincipe 12m
Taylor Hall will have company in Edm.Ryan Smyth is flying home.Smyth didn't skate this morning and will be looked at by team's medical staff

JeanshortsBaggedmilk ‏@JSBMrevolution 7m
"Wow Smytty has been playing pretty well so far. What a pleasant surprise!" *His body immediately stops working* #OilersLuck

Just had to throw in the last tweet to reflect the comedy of the situation.

The positive is that the game tomorrow is the last of the current road trip, so guys getting sent home doesn't necessarily mean a long stint on the IR.

The other positive is, well, it's Smyth.

It's funny though how having a fourth line of Gazdic, Acton and Brown makes you appreciate #94 just a little bit more...

Listen, those heroes are out there on the fourth playing 6 minutes a game PROTECTING the rest of the team. Acton isn't bad, just consider who his linemates have been.

I think Acton is a fine AHLer. He wins face-offs, but he's not been a great penalty killer (although the system should maybe be questioned there, as they're all horrible at killing penalties now), and with 2 points in 9 games, he's scoring at an unsustainably high rate given his past performance.

That said, you're right. He's definitely the best player on his line.

As I said, those guys have done a terrific job of making me appreciate players like Smyth, Belanger and Petrell.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the top forwards playing 25 minutes. I think it is great that they are capable of doing it, but I'd prefer they keep that gas in the tank for when we really need them to. I worry that the Oilers are flirting with more injuries by playing their top guys as much as they are, and I think back to interviews I've read with Lidstrom and Pronger about the importance of conserving energy when they play big minutes...I don't think it's as easy to do as a forward.

If I'm working with the top end guys, I'm cutting their icetime back and instead encouraging them to get to the hard places a little more. I think the Oilers still are guilty of looking to score mostly pretty goals. I think it's one of their issues with the powerplay too...none of the kids are going to the front of the net. All of them are capable of tipping shots and getting to rebounds, so why can't Taylor Hall get to the top of the crease sometimes? Instead we've tried to put Boyd Gordon there (who's been somewhat effective) and Ryan Smyth there (who hasn't been particularly effective, strangely) and Jesse Joensuu there (who I haven't seen enough of to judge). If we want all our top guys getting lots of powerplay time, some of them are going to have to take that net-front presence role at least some of the time, because I don't think Schultz and Belov are going to blast many in without a screen of some sort in front.

The Hall injury may very well have happened no matter what, but I think we're setting ourselves up for more of these by playing four forwards more than any other forwards in the league night after night after night.